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Card under $200?

U

UnfaTeFuL

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 23, 2002
Messages
460
Hey guys, I'm currently searching for a new card before the end of the month. And the past few months, I can see the gradual downgrade and effectiveness of my geforce 3 Ti200.

I'm getting less than 25 FPS in city of heroes and world of warcraft which are horrible. I hate it when people brag they get an average of 60-80 FPS in those games. I want to get a new card before WoW comes out, which is around Thanksgiving. I searched through this forum and almost everyone recommends the Geforce 6800 class or ATI 9800 class. I can't really afford to put out 300-400 bucks.

I've been looking at the GF 5900xt at newegg. How's that video card?
 
UnfaTeFuL said:
I searched through this forum and almost everyone recommends the Geforce 6800 class or ATI 9800 class. I can't really afford to put out 300-400 bucks.
Click to expand...
If you think a 9800 Pro costs 300 to 400 bucks, you haven't been searching through anything.

the GeForce 5x00 series are complete ass.

Get a 9800 Pro 128 MB card for less than 180 bucks almost anywhere online.
 
Best options currently for the under $200 price point is either a new 9800 Pro 128MB 256-bit for $190 (estimated) or a used (or refurbished) 9800 Pro 128/256MB 256-bit card for an estimated $150 or $200 shipped respectively. You could also choose to wait for the agp versions of the 6600GT/X700XT, but that will probably be an end of november or december thing.
 
The 5900XT is not complete ass. I had one before my 6800 OC, and it did pretty damn well. A lot of them can overclock close to 5950 speeds, and that's what I would reccomend doing. At those speeds, it can surpass a 9800XT in OpenGL games, and come decently close in Direct3D games. For $150 - $170, it's not a bad deal at all. Google for a few reviews, and you'll be surprised. It's the only 5x00 series card I would reccomend.

Personally, I would either wait for the AGP version of the 6600 series, or spring the extra $50 and get a 6800 OC for $250 if you can catch it on sale.
 
err typo, i meant the x800, not 9800.

I have no experience with ATI cards. I did some research on the video cards and there was a huge jump in performance with x800, 6800 and those higher class cards vs the 5900xt, 9800 and lower.


I'll probably wait til the 6600 AGP and have to stick with this crappy card for another month.
 
UnfaTeFuL said:
I'll probably wait til the 6600 AGP and have to stick with this crappy card for another month.
Click to expand...

Personally, I think the AGP parts are going to be further out than everyone thinks. With AMD going PCI-e (and the big push for PCI-e in general), I think it will take longer for the AGP parts to roll out the door...so you may be in for a longer wait than a month. BUT, that just my oppinion.

I would go for a 9800 pro, good card all the way around.
 
Personally if I had to spend under 200.00 bucks I would just get a 9600pro 128mb and later when you get the cash upgrade to a 6800gt... I see you can get a 9600pro 128mb for just 96.00 bucks on pricewatch.com
 
Hey brother stay STRONG!

I've had my geforce3 since it first came out and I definitely feel your pain! But we can do it!

Hehe, I am also waiting myself to purchase some upgrades. Basically I'm waiting for an NF4 board w/pci express. My father built a new pc, and got an X800 xt PCI-e , but he doesnt even play games!! So hopefully I can go from a gf3 to an X800 Xt, and not upgrade for another 4 years!

Btw, I'd wait for 6600 gt. While I'm stoked about the x800xt, I kinda prefer an nvidia card based on driver performance, sm3.0 and digital vibrance
 
9800 pro is a good choice, especially since you are running a geforce3 card, I run a 9800 pro and play all my games at 1600x1200, Ive been playing alot of CS:Source and farcry and all the other newer games, and it runs them just fine. and it will run WOW,and many other games for a while, no need to jump on the 6800 bandwagon just yet. 9800 pro is still one of the better "budget" cards out there right now, no reason not to get it as they are right around 200 bucks. be sure and not to get a Sapphirre Atlantis version of a 9800 pro as the memory interface is only 128 bits wide, you wanna get the 256 bit version.
 
The 6600 GT AGP is vaporware at the moment. Also, its specs aren't much better than a 9800 Pro anyway, and the 9800 Pro is a HUGE improvement over a Geforce 3 (I know from firsthand experience owning both). The 9800 Pro is also <$200 if you shop around.
 
matrixfan0831 said:
First of all http://www.z-buy.com/product.asp?item=VG-ATR980S in response to the 9800. But i dont think youll find an x800 anything under $200. But good luck looking:) And a 9800 w/256 is a tight card in my opinion...
Click to expand...

That's a Radeon 9800, not a 9800 Pro. It's a bit slower, and it won't take advantage of the 256 MB of VRAM. Really if you want to get a 256 MB card, you'll have to get at least a GeForce 6800 or Radeon X800 series card.

The 128 MB 9800 Pro is $180 at Outpost.com: http://shop1.outpost.com/product/3628345

For the price, it's the best you can get. The 5900XT is okay but not quite as good.
 
If you are really planning to upgrade again later (and come on this is [H] who isn't?) and you don't want to spend alot.

Geforce FX5700Ultra - can be had for like $160 on newegg.

Now you've got $40 to put towards the next card when the time comes.
 
evilmicah said:
If you are really planning to upgrade again later (and come on this is [H] who isn't?) and you don't want to spend alot.

Geforce FX5700Ultra - can be had for like $160 on newegg.

Now you've got $40 to put towards the next card when the time comes.
Click to expand...

A 5900XT is around the same price. Maybe less than $10 more. It wouldn't make any sense to buy the 5700U over the 5900XT. The 5900 is a lot faster.
 
evilmicah said:
If you are really planning to upgrade again later (and come on this is [H] who isn't?) and you don't want to spend alot.

Geforce FX5700Ultra - can be had for like $160 on newegg.

Now you've got $40 to put towards the next card when the time comes.
Click to expand...
Wait, im confused...why not get a 9800 pro for 20 dollars more?

lets not be stupid here...
 
There are some very cheap regular 6800 cards. Get one of those and unlock the pipes and get performance between a 6800 and 6800GT
 
For a $200 budget I'd go with a 9800 Pro. You can probably get one for $150. Check the FS/FT Forum.

Stay away from any FX card.
 
UnfaTeFuL said:
Hey guys, I'm currently searching for a new card before the end of the month. And the past few months, I can see the gradual downgrade and effectiveness of my geforce 3 Ti200.

I'm getting less than 25 FPS in city of heroes and world of warcraft which are horrible. I hate it when people brag they get an average of 60-80 FPS in those games. I want to get a new card before WoW comes out, which is around Thanksgiving. I searched through this forum and almost everyone recommends the Geforce 6800 class or ATI 9800 class. I can't really afford to put out 300-400 bucks.

I've been looking at the GF 5900xt at newegg. How's that video card?
Click to expand...

If you play a lot of MMORPGs you are better off with the 5900XT over the 9800PRO; most MMOs have lots, lots, lots more issues with ATI cards.

If you can wait about a month, the 6600GT will destroy both of them.
 
Can anyone who has posted it give me a link to substantiate this "about a month" projection for the release of a 6600 AGP part?
 
You know, if you don't mind doing eBay, you can find a 9500 Pro for a great price.

Usually there are around a dozen or two of them listed at any time (seems everyone and their brother bought one when they came out), and can usually be had in the $60 price range. As with all things eBay, sometimes one or two will go way over the average price, you just have to bide your time to get a sweet deal. Just do a search on 'Radeon 9500 Pro' and check only the completed auctions and you'll see. The average price for them is around $60.

That's a GREAT 'hold you over' price given that they manage within 25% of a 9800 Pro's performance in virtually every case.
 
diablo111 said:
Can anyone who has posted it give me a link to substantiate this "about a month" projection for the release of a 6600 AGP part?
Click to expand...
That's just a common-sense assumption.

We know it's "soon", and we know Christmas is right around the corner. nVidia will do everything they can to get the AGP part on retail store shelves before Christmas.
 
A 9500 Pro isn't a bad budget card, but don't fool yourself that it comes anywhere close to a 9800 Pro.

The 9500P has less than 40% of the 9800P's memory bandwidth, and that just kills it. the 9800P also has a 40% GPU clock advantage.
 
Lazier_Said said:
A 9500 Pro isn't a bad budget card, but don't fool yourself that it comes anywhere close to a 9800 Pro.

The 9500P has less than 40% of the 9800P's memory bandwidth, and that just kills it. the 9800P also has a 40% GPU clock advantage.
Click to expand...

No, but it's also possible to find for $60 or so, and is a GREAT overclocker (while the 9800 is only mediocre at best).

It's definately not a bad card to consider, given the really cheap price. (It was the non-Pro 9800s I was thinking of, actually, not the 'Pro'. The 'Pro' really are quite a bit faster.)
 
dderidex said:
You know, if you don't mind doing eBay, you can find a 9500 Pro for a great price.

Usually there are around a dozen or two of them listed at any time (seems everyone and their brother bought one when they came out), and can usually be had in the $60 price range. As with all things eBay, sometimes one or two will go way over the average price, you just have to bide your time to get a sweet deal. Just do a search on 'Radeon 9500 Pro' and check only the completed auctions and you'll see. The average price for them is around $60.

That's a GREAT 'hold you over' price given that they manage within 25% of a 9800 Pro's performance in virtually every case.
Click to expand...
thats because everyone tried to softmod them into 9700's, and those that are on ebay are the ones that sucked.

look elsewhere.
 
KingPariah777 said:
thats because everyone tried to softmod them into 9700's, and those that are on ebay are the ones that sucked.

look elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Well, seeing as how NO 9500 Pro can soft-mod to 9700s (that was only the 9500 non-Pro, and only certain ones, at that), I'd say that yes, those could not mod to 9700s.

Uhhh....so what? The 9500np was a turd and needed the mod to be competitive. The 9500 Pro is just a great card all around. It pounds the 9600 Pro into the ground, and beats the 9600XT most the time.

While both the 9600 Pro and 9600XT have a pretty silly clock-speed advantages on the 9500 Pro, they are both only 4 pipe cards, while the 9500 Pro has 8 rendering pipelines. They are effectively the exact same core architecture, so this pipeline difference is quite telling.

The 9500 Pro stock is 275mhz with 8 rendering pipes - in order to beat that, the 9600 would have to have a 550mhz core clock with its 4 rendering piplines! Even the 9600XT has only 500mhz. For every 1mhz you overclock the core on a 9500 Pro, you'd need to do 2mhz on the core of a 9600. So, say you only got 50mhz on the core of a 9500 Pro (pretty average), at 325 mhz you'd need a 650mhz 9600 core to beat it!

The 9500 Pros were very, very good card and still stand up well.

Seriously, the numbers back this up!
Far Cry - 1024x768
Radeon 9500 Pro: 27.5 fps
Radeon 9600XT: 26.2 fps

Doom 3 (High Quality) - 1024x768
Radeon 9500 Pro: 26.7 fps
Radeon 9600XT: 25.3 fps

Unreal Tournament 2004 - 1024x768, 4xAA, 8xAniso
Radeon 9500 Pro - 52.5
Radeon 9600XT - 48.7

Battlefield Vietnam - 1024x768
Radeon 9500 Pro - 47.7
Radeon 9600XT - 46.9

Etc.

Not bad for a $60 card, eh?
 
KingPariah777 said:
:cool:
Click to expand...

As much as I root for the underdog(nvidia) - I gotta say this.

My gaming machine is a P4 2.8e with 1GB RAM(dual channel) Intel 865mobo. I have the FX5950 in there right now, my primary use machine has a 9800pro. The two cards are incredibly close in benchmarks(Aquamark, Codecreatures, and 3dmark), and I've run Doom 3 , UT2k4, FarCry with very little difference. The thing is, the 5950 was a $499 card when new, and the 9800pro wasn't. I got the 9800pro for 199 last year. My friend owns a computer store and hooks me up. I got the 5950 when I ordered the 5700U. He got them both in at the same time, and I think I paid like $300 at the time. Whatever the price was it was a good deal.

From what I've seen - ati is currently the card you want. Although those 6800Ultra's are posting some nice framerates/image quality. Oh, and screw the SLI thing - I'd rather buy faster cards when they come out. Unless the two cards are going to give me double the framerate - I just can't see it being worth it....

... then again, I'll probably end up doing it anyway. :D
 
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